Residential Mobility and School Choice Among Poor Families

• In Event: Educational Trajectories: Effects of Social Class and “Significant Others”

Abstract

Previous research shows significant racial differences in residential mobility patterns, with white
families rarely moving to poor neighborhoods and black families rarely leaving poor areas for
more affluent communities. This challenges the assumption that all families are equally able to
access more amenities in housing, schools and neighborhoods, and gives us reason to consider
how the process of residential and school choice operates among poor and African American
families. Scholarship also shows differences in school selection and evaluations of school quality
by race and class. Low income families lack social networks that allow them to gain information
about where better schools are located, while middle class families rely heavily on information
passed through social ties that helps them locate highly reputable schools and neighborhoods.
Despite these differences, research on residential mobility patterns is infrequently linked directly
to the school choices that poor families make. We examine the interplay between residential trajectories and school choice among poor
families, and describe the family circumstances and structural factors that lead families to select,
or end up in their neighborhoods and schools.

Authors

• Anna Rhodes, Johns Hopkins University

• Stefanie A. Deluca, Johns Hopkins University